Orlando paid a hefty price to acquire Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane 👀

(Picks via @joshrobbins.bsky.social)

[image or embed]

— The Athletic (@theathletic.bsky.social) June 15, 2025 at 11:32 AM

Desmond Bane is leaving Memphis and the ear drum-shattering sounds of Ja Morant’s gunshots—and heading to Orlando—and the ear drum-shattering sounds of Franz Wagner bricking jumpers off the backboard the moment the playoffs begin.

Let’s look at the trade details:

Magic receive:

• Desmond Bane

Grizzlies receive:

• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
• Cole Anthony
• No. 16 pick in 2025 NBA Draft
• 2026 first-round pick (via Phoenix)
• 2028 first-round pick
• 2029 first-round pick swap
• 2030 first-round pick

 

 

 

Orlando Magic: A

Pros:

• Desmond Bane is astronomically better than Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Here are Bane’s 2024-25 stats (and in parentheses, let’s share KCP’s)

• 19.2 points (8.7)
• 48% from the field (43%)
• 39% from 3 (34%)
• 6.1 rebounds (2.2)
• 5.3 assists (1.8)
• 1.2 steals (1.3) nice, Kent!

Desmond Bane excels in skills KCP did not bring to work with him last season:

• catch-and-shoot from 3
• shooting off the dribble
• Initiating an offense
• Penetrating the defense and either finishing at the rim or kicking it out to an open shooter
• Perimeter on-ball defense

Bane also directly solves almost all of Orlando’s problems.

Here is where their team ranked among the rest of the NBA last season (and how Bane fixes it)

• 30th, dead fucking last, in 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage (Desmond Bane made more 3’s than SGA, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Jalen Brunson. Bane had more 3’s than anyone on the Magic.)
• 27th in rebounding (Desmond Bane had 418 rebounds, more than his teammate Jaren Jackson Jr and the 7th most among guards)
• 30th, dead last again, in assists (Desmond Bane’s 369 assists last season would’ve led the Magic. He had almost 100 more than Franz Wagner, the team leader with 284.)

Cons:

• 4 first-round draft picks are a lot of draft picks for the 2021 All-Rookie Second-Team guard.
• Cole Anthony seemed like a fun hang.

 

Best Case Scenario

The Orlando Magic find themselves where the Indiana Pacers are today.

Desmond Bane takes the playmaking responsibility pressures off Franz and Paolo and the team becomes more dynamic than just those two guys isoing back and forth.

Bane, Jalen Suggs, Franz and Paolo run teams out of the fucking gym next season, as they form a palpable confidence, allowing them to believe they can outwork Boston, Cleveland, Indiana and New York to the Finals.

Worst Case Scenario

One of those picks becomes a superstar while the Magic, like, can’t make it out of the second round because Indiana found their Alex Caruso-esque star roleplayer and Joel Embiid is healthy again and Giannis is still better than everyone and Karl-Anthony Towns discovers his balance and Jayson Tatum‘s legs are stuffed with stem cells and HGH.

But if you weren’t outside when Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier and Elfrid Payton were winning 20 games every year, you can’t show up now and say they gave away too many first-round picks for a guaranteed playoff berth and a genuine chance at a Finals run.

Go watch Jonathan Simmons isos before we talk about draft picks in 2030 when 50% of the league is AI.

 

 

4 Takeaways From Jalen Williams Taking Over Game 5 of the NBA Finals

---

Memphis Grizzlies: A

Pros:

The Grizzlies can do whatever they want now.

Their largest salary is off the books and they still have two 25-year-old All-Stars on the roster.

Let’s talk about some of the stars they can add this offseason:

• Giannis Antetokounmpo (5 first rounds and Jaren Jackson Jr): Giannis automatically replaces the holes left by Jaren and Desmond, holes Memphis fans won’t even remember by the end of the first week of the 25-26 season.
• Kevin Durant (4 first round picks and Jaren Jackson Jr): Zach Edey and Durant make more sense together in the front court. KCP could guard the other team’s best wing and they’d need some new role players (we’ll get to the later) but the offense would be fine, if not improved.
• Jaylen Brown( 5 first rounds and Jaren Jackson Jr): Are we sure Jayson Tatum stepping on a land mine didn’t just give a new, profit-driven Celtics ownership group the green light to be cheap?

 

Or they can build out and “overpay” for roleplayers like the Magic just did:

• Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton
• RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley
• Lonzo Ball and Coby White
• Corey Kispert and Saddiq Bey
• Trey Murphy and Bruce Brown

Shout out to Santi Aldama and John Konchar but the Memphis Grizzlies are on the doorsteps of a dynamic, exciting team coming into next season after sacrificing Desmond Bane at Disney World.

Best Case Scenario

• Jaren Jackson Jr overcomes his addiction to personal fouls.
• Ja Morant works on his shooting on the court instead of off
• They fill the roster will role players who are there to help Jaren and Ja instead of young guys all trying to prove they can also score 20 a game and get big contracts
• ICE attacks the NBA, sending Jokic, Luka and Shai back to their countries, or more likely a third-world prison next to CNN reporters and congressmen who haven’t participated in their monthly Donald Trump ring kissing loyalty pledge, televised live on every streaming service.

Worst Case Scenario

They tank.

I don’t know how you watch all of these same teams tank year after year, only to get fucked by these new flattened lottery odds and believe your team will be the outlier.

Memphis has two 25-year old All Stars and if you listen to an NBA podcast, the Grizzlies suck and should all be traded for 2nd rounders and pick swaps.

Don’t be the Wizards. Never go full Wizards.

 

 

 

 

---

Thanks for reading. Go ahead and sign up for the D, the daily Deadseriousness newsletter sent directly to your inbox every AM.

---

Who do you think won this Desmond Bane trade?  Leave a comment below. Respond on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Or shoot me an email at Deadseriousmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s chat, bay-beeeee. Let me know if work at Disney World and don’t think Desmond Bane’s arms are long enough to get on any of the rides because he can’t pull down those guard rails.

Share With Others